Hello Hong Kong

In the fall we had started planning our 2014 Chinese New Year trip, but when the tornado happened and we lost our house, we couldn’t focus on both things.  We pushed pause on our original idea and instead planned something much simpler.  We chose to return to Hong Kong and spend time outside of Hong Kong Disneyland, which we visited on our first trip to Hong Kong.

We landed on a Tuesday afternoon and I didn’t want to waste a moment, so I made reservations on a replica Chinese Junk Ship.  We sailed around the harbor and took in the Hong Kong skyline and lights.  I loved it, but LBean was less-than-thrilled to be tossed around a boat with the wind whipping around us.  To say the least, it was not a highlight of the trip for her.

Hong Kong Skyline

Replica Junk Ship

Tad bit windy

Bright and fun!

The next morning we strolled through Hong Kong stopping at a bakery for breakfast and a children’s toy and clothing store I had discovered during my online research.  In the afternoon, we took the Star Ferry line across the harbor and had a proper English tea at a hotel.  It was fantastic and, for me, a highlight of our trip.  The McClintocks to get excited about tea!  We have tea parties at our house often, complete with tiny china tea-cups, sugar and biscuits and I think our girls enjoyed going to a real one.  Also, it was exciting for them to see adults having tea and using all the manners that we constantly talk about.  Each girl got their own set of fancy desserts and tea or hot chocolate.

On the Star Ferry

EBean deciding what sweet treat
to eat first!

ChinaBean enjoyed afternoon tea too!

That is a tower of pure goodness!

A bit of cream for ChinaBean's fresh scone.

The next day we took a double-decker city bus to visit the Stanley market area.  We enjoyed wandering through a part of the market and walking along the boardwalk.  After the girls had worn themselves out a bit at near-by playground, we had lunch at an Irish pub that overlooked the water.  Irish pub in Hong Kong, why not?!  We eat Mexican and Indian in Suzhou all the time.

Shopping for some fresh fruit for a snack.
ChinaBean was fast asleep in the Ergo carrier.

Snacking on the boardwalk.

Let's get Baba (daddy in Mandarin) in a photo too.

One of our views as we took the bus back to
the city center.

Jamie and I planned a surprise trip to Hong Kong Disneyland for the girls.  We had told them that going to Disney was not the focus of our trip (and it hadn’t been) and they had not once complained or begged about going to see the mouse.  We were happy to take ChinaBean to Disney for the first time and enjoy all the Disney magic as a family of five.  It was also our first time to get to Disney via a subway ride!

My three little peanuts could not be cuter-
but I am biased!

LBean pretending to have Tinkerbell in her hand.

When did this girl get so big?!

Dizzy in the tea cups.

A photo op with a Chinese "Army"
man from Toy Story?  Yes please.

Our last full day in Hong Kong we walked to a near-by theater to see a children’s play called The Gruffalow’s Child, based on a book of the same name.  It was an hour-long production and completely geared towards young children. It was part of a series of productions called KidsFest Hong Kong.  The girls enjoyed it even though parts of the play were still a little intense.  It reminded me of how much I miss theater, both musicals and plays.  We have ballet and some children’s shows in Suzhou, but most (and maybe all) are in Mandarin and there certainly isn’t the variety.  I started having crazy thoughts about how we could fly down to Hong Kong every so often to see a play…

Hmmm...

LBean, getting a new do.

ChinaBean wanted a "haircut" too.
The kind woman braided Amelia's hair for her.

That night (our last night) at dinner ChinaBean didn’t eat much and she kept saying “full”.  I had an idea of what she meant by that, but I pushed that thought out of my head.  Unfortunately, I was right, and later as we were getting read for bed she got sick, really sick.  (If you’ve been keeping track this now means the McClintocks have had a stomach bug in Indonesia, Thailand and now Hong Kong.)  We got her settled and we all headed to bed.  

In the middle of the night I heard the gagging sound again and I yelled to Jamie “We’ve got another puker!”  We had to flip on the light to see if it was LBean or EBean.  EBean had one the prize this time.  Morning came quickly (or maybe it was slowly, I don't know) and we packed up the best we could.  We stuffed extra clothes for the flight home in our carry-on bags and crossed our fingers that we would make it home safely.  Jamie took EBean and I had ChinaBean and we tried to conceal our vomiting children as much as we could on the plane (sorry fellow passengers).  I was praying that our sick kiddos wouldn’t set off the temperature detectors at the mainland China airport when we arrived.  We got lucky and made it through immigration and customs.  Jamie stopped for a moment to grab some drinks before we hopped in the van to drive home.  When he stepped out of the store he sniffed the air and said “Something smells out here.”  I looked up and said “I’m pretty sure it’s us honey.  We’re covered in vomit.”  He still swears that it wasn’t us, but I’m not so sure.

Home sweet home felt so good (and so did a very hot shower).

What's That? Wednesday: My Love/Hate Relationship with Potty Training in China

Can I be honest for a moment?  I really, really, really dislike potty training.  It is not a highlight of my mothering career.  And, for the record, my first two children were very easy.  I know it can be much worse.  I don’t like that I have to be constantly thinking about someone else’s bodily functions and asking every 20 minutes, “Do you have to go potty?”  I don’t like having to drop everything and run to the toilet with a toddler any time there is a thought of potty running through her head.  I’m lazy that way and I’ve okay with that.  

Potty training while in China just adds a whole new dimension to the process.  The assurance of clean potties?  Nope.  Finding a potty quickly while out and about?  Nope.  Family bathrooms so daddy can share in the potty training fun?  Nope.  Holding a small child who has legs barely longer than an American Girl doll over a squatty potty…not fun (and doesn’t smell so great either).  Anticipating our 14-hour flight to the US this summer with a potty training toddler…also not fun.

And yet!  We live in a society where it is completely socially acceptable to allow your child (or adult male) to potty in the bushes, the grass, along the side of the road, in the park or, for the particularly brave, into a plastic Coke bottle while standing in front of the “It’s a Small World” ride at Hong Kong Disney (not our child or adult male).  There is great freedom in this and it almost makes up for the challenges.

If you haven’t already guessed, we have recently started another season of potty training at our house.  My past experience in potty training a toddler in China gives me confidence that we will prevail once again! 

Hong Kong Disneyland

This post is mostly pictures, they're worth more than a thousand words right?!  We ended our October holiday at Hong Kong Disneyland.  It is a much smaller park than Florida, but it was the perfect size for our children.  HK Disneyland is much like a scaled-back Magic Kingdom.  I don't know if it's because we went the week after a national Chinese holiday or what, but it was not crowded and we were able to walk right up to rides and walk on.  And, if the girls wanted to go on a ride again, it wasn't a problem.  The longest wait we had was 20 minutes.

For anyone that has traveled to the Magic Kingdom recently, it takes hours of planning and researching to find the right restaurants & character meals and you have to book months in advance.  You will find none of that in Hong Kong.  There are two character meals to choose from and we walked up to every restaurant and sat down immediately.

We stayed on the grounds because HK Disneyland is on its own island and it is a bit separated from the rest of Hong Kong.  We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, which reminded me of the Grand Floridian in Florida.  This was probably the closest that I will ever get to staying at the Grand Floridian!   The special touches for the girls were really neat.  They had their own slippers with Mickey on them, bath robes, step stools to help reach the sink, plastic cups, etc.  

The park was decorated for Halloween, which was fun for Jamie and I to see.  For our tenderhearted children it provided opportunities to be brave and overcome some fears.

I felt as if the park was evenly split between adults and children.  The subway stops outside the park and there were lots of teenagers and young adults going through the park.  It seemed as if the adults were more interested in getting pictures taken with the characters and didn't spend as much time on the rides. The emphasis on the Disney Princesses was significantly less than in the US and it was nice!

LBean in the lobby of the Disneyland Hotel

EBean dancing and singing on the way to the
park entrance.

In front of the water fountain at the entrance

Love the Halloween decorations, the Mickey is made
of plants and pumpkins

Our first picture with Mickey & Minnie

"Main Street USA" leading up to Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Snack break with my rice krispie treat

Jamie and I in front of the Castle

Posing with Snow White

Peering down the well

LBean made a wish

Happy Halloween from the Club House gang

Grandma Callie got to ride the rides too

We loved the Dumbo ride

Jamie enjoying his Disney Dim Sum, yum, yum

A close-up of the Dim Sum

Jamie took this amazing photo of the Cinderella statue 

Riding the carousel

Sitting on the carousel

Riding the tea cups

LBean watching the tea cup ride from the safety of her
non-moving tea cup

The Chinese doll in the Small World ride.  We liked this
Small World ride better than the one in Florida.

This is the train, we faced into the park.

With the Minnie statue at our hotel

Mickey left LBean a new pair of sunglasses
on her pillow

Getting ready to have breakfast with Mickey and friends

LBean and Pluto

Love this picture, such a difference from the last time
we went to Disney in Florida

We see this face sometimes...the life of a 2 year-old is tough

EBean was really fascinated by Goofy

Look at those rockstar girls

Look at these rockstar ladies

This picture cracks me up because I'm leaning
over that funny way because I'm lifting up LBean
so she can get her face in the helmet.

Getting ready to drive her car

The train station all lit up for Halloween

Watching the spooky Halloween night parade.
Please note that LBean pretty-much looked like that
the whole parade.  She loved the Headless Horseman, but
told me after the parade, "I never want to do that again."

The castle lit up.

The night-time fireworks.

Mmmm, Mickey waffles for breakfast.

Crafting in Prince Eric's playroom.  It was a free program
at the hotel.

Going through the Mickey maze outside our hotel.

A view of the back of the Disneyland Hotel